The Whitebeards list of myths and stories to put young pirates to bed
by Krystalana
Summary: A series of myths based on japanese folklore, staring the Whitebeard pirates.
1. Pineapple-Taro

It was a nice, sunny day, when Whitebeard found a pineapple floating down a river, as big as a watermelon and twice as heavy. Luckily, Edward Newgate is and has never been a weak man, so he had no problems taking the giant pineapple and bringing it to his ship, considering what to do with it.

"It would be a shame to waste it" He thought as he looked around the empty ship. "It is such a shame I have nobody to share it with." Edward Newagte, alias Whitebeard, had always desired a family, but fate had wanted it that he had no children to call his own, and no family to cherish.  
As he went to split the pineapple down the middle, he was surprised to find the inside was hollow and there, nestled in the middle of the fruit, was a tiny child no bigger than his own hand, with golden hair that resembled the very fruit he had been found in.

Whitebeard decided to take it as a sign and adopted the child to be his son, naming him Marco and loving him as if he was his own. Soon, Marco grew to be a young man, strong and reliable, always taking in whatever jobs Whitebeard or his other crewmates needed help with. His dedication to his father could never be questioned, and when rumors of pirates having invaded one of their islands and pillaging and plundering the land, he was the first to offer to go and defeat them so his father would not have to.

As he went to the island, he came across three men in a boat: Thatch, a friendly man of unquestionable loyalty, Izo the crossdresser who despite his grumpy looks cared a lot for his two adoptive brothers and Haruta, an excitable teen who could climb anywhere like a monkey. These three men had been lost at sea without food, and when Marco found them, he agreed to share his food with them and bring them with him to port.  
Thankful for his help, the three brothers offered their help defeating the pirates, and together they liberated the people with ease, much to the relief of the inhabitants.

When Marco returned to his father's ship it was with three new brothers in tow, and Whitebeard couldn't be happier to see his family not only safe and sound, but expanding happily.

…

"So Commander Marco was born from a pineapple?" "I guess that explains why he looks so much like one"

"The hell are you telling the newbies, yoi! Thatch!"


	2. Hanasaka-jisan

Thatch didn't have many things in life: He had his precious trees, a loving father and his dog, Stefan.  
Stefan was a white dog with a weirdly shaped fur that resembled a mustache, big like a small pony and an incredibly good dog, like all dogs ought to be, but Stefan was an especially good dog, for even when they were so poor that Thatch could barely feed his old father, much less himself, the dog would always manage to hunt down a hare or dig up so delicious mushroom Thatch could cook to feed them all.

He had always jokingly said that without Stefan, they would probably be dead, but that the dog was so good and loyal, that not even death they had to worry about, because Stefan would always return safely from his expeditions with no injuries and even something to sustain themselves with. They didn't have much, but what they had they all shared around.

One day, digging around, the dog found a box full of coins buried under their garden, and happily, the poor family used that money to buy food and pelts to keep warm when winter came, also buying Stefan a big bone so that he could get a treat for his hard work.

Sadly, the sudden expense had not gone unnoticed, and their neighbor, Teach spied around when he noticed his penniless neighbors suddenly spending money on their dog. They had barely enough money for themselves, what were they thinking?  
What he discovered, though, made him incredibly jealous. How come that dog had managed to find such precious treasure? He needed that dog so that he could be rich, too!

Using the cover of the night to steal the dog's bone, he lured the mutt to his home and forced him to dig around, hoping to find treasure. The only thing he found, though were old bones and roots. Furious, Teach killed the dog, and buried the corpse under his neighbor's withered old tree. Even if they ended up finding the dog, they wouldn't know who had done it, since it was buried under their own yard.

Thatch, worried when the dog suddenly disappeared, searched high and low far and wide, but the dog didn't turn up at all.  
As the days passed and Stefan didn't return, they grew worried and restless, certain the dog had somehow met his end somewhere, until suddenly Thatch's father Edward had a dream about Stefan digging under the tree. When they went to check, instead of the dog's corpse, they found a diamond the size of their fist.  
They cried, thinking that even in death Stefan was watching over them, helping them out even when he wasn't there anymore.

Teach, beside himself, couldn't comprehend where the diamond had come from, and when the next night he went to dig under the old withered tree to check on the dead dog, he didn't find neither corpse, nor diamond for himself.  
Figuring that he had simply forgotten where he buried the corpse, he burned the tree in fury, angry at himself, thinking that he had simply missed the diamond when he went to bury the dog.

When the next day Thatch and Edward went outside, they only found the charred remains of the tree. Concerned about what could have happened, they checked everywhere, but no hints about the fire's start could be found.

Then, the next night, Thatch had a dream about Stefan, just like his father had two nights ago. In his dream, Stefan had a bag of ashes in his mouth, and as he ran around happily playing, he was scattering them on Thatch's precious trees.  
With tears in his eyes, he gathered the ashes of the burned down tree and scattered them around his trees like Stefan had done in his dream, as a way to honor the dog he was certain had died.

Then, the most incredible thing happened. As Thatch sprinkled the trees with the ashes, the trees began to bloom with magnificent flowers, something Thatch hadn't managed to do in all his years tending to the trees.  
As both Thatch and Edward took in the beautiful scenery, they didn't realize they weren't alone, Jozu, the feudal lord of the land, had been witness to the miracle and bestowed them with lots of gifts.

Teach, jealous, tried to do the same, only for the ashes to end up in Jozu's eyes, and the lord, angry at the insolence, and sent him to prison to think about his actions. Even after he was released, the rest of the town didn't want him around, angry at his greedy ways and devious machinations, and he had to leave the town and never return.

Because of this, he never saw the last and greatest gift the lord gave to Thatch and his father. A white dog, big like a small pony and good as only dogs ought to be, with a weirdly shaped fur that resembled a mustache, which he had found a few weeks prior, injured and full of dirt, but immensely happy to return to his loving family.


End file.
